CALL FOR PAPERS for the SFPE Engineering Technology Conference

2011 SFPE Annual Meeting:

Professional Development Conference and Exposition
October 23 - 28, 2011
Portland Marriott Downtown Waterfront
Portland, Oregon

CALL FOR PAPERS for the Engineering Technology Conference

SFPE is now accepting abstracts for the educational presentations for its two-day Engineering Technology Conference. This conference highlights presentations on advanced and cutting-edge practices in fire protection engineering that are used to protect people, property and the environment from fire.

Keynote presenters are:
• David A. Charters, Building Research Establishment, Ltd, United Kingdom
• Professor W.K. Chow, FSFPE, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong
• Martin J. Feeney, Holmes Fire & Safety, New Zealand
• David W. Frable, P.E., General Services Administration, USA (Invited)
• Frederick W. Mowrer, Ph.D., P.E., FSFPE, California Polytechnic State University, USA
• James R. Quiter, P.E., FSFPE, ARUP Fire Engineering, USA

We invite you to share your knowledge with your peers in the advances in fire protection engineering as a presenter on October 24-25, 2011 in Portland, OR. Presentations should be noncommercial in nature with no specific brand names being mentioned. The program committee will review all abstracts. Selections will be made based on quality, relevance, focus, practical application, and timeliness.

Deadline for submission is March 31, 2011. Click here for Guidelines for submission (http://www.sfpe.org/upload/2011guidelines_for_abstracts.pdf).

If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact Julie Gordon, SFPE Education Program Manager, at jgordon@sfpe.org or 301-915-9724.

Univerisity of Edinburgh to Host Fire Science and Investigation Course

The University of Edinburgh is hosting its renown annual course in Fire Science and Fire Investigation on 28th-31st March this year, marking the course's 25th Anniversary. A course description is given below.

Registration is now open at: http://www.lifelong.ed.ac.uk/cpd/courses/scieng?Course=K1819

*Fire Science & Fire Investigation Course (25th Anniversary)*

28th-31st March 2011, Edinburgh

A fire investigation may be required for any one of a number of reasons, ranging from a desire to understand the processes and prevent recurrence, to a need to establish liability or detect criminal acts. This popular and highly respected course, now in its 25th year, assumes a basic knowledge of the subject and builds on either scientific training or experience from other courses. The speakers are all experts in their particular fields, selected because of their outstanding communication skills.

The main objective of the course is to show how scientific principles can be used by the fire investigator to interpret how a fire started and how it spread. To this end, the course begins with lectures on fire science and compartment fire dynamics which provide the basis for understanding fire behaviour. Case studies are presented to illustrate how the principles are applied and delegates have the opportunity to examine items recovered from scenes of fire which have evidential value.

Course feedback is consistently excellent - in 2010 100% of respondents rated the course ‘v.good’ or ‘good’ and would recommend it to their colleagues.

The Society of Fire Protection Engineers Welcomes the New Great Plains Chapter

The Board of Directors of the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE) has approved the formation of the SFPE Great Plains Chapter. The Chapter will be based in Nebraska and will serve the Omaha – Lincoln – Council Bluffs areas of Nebraska along with Iowa and the Dakotas.

The Great Plains Chapter will hold its first meeting on March 9, 2011 (11:45am) at DJ’s Dugout; 636 N. 114th St, Omaha, NE 68154.

The meeting will feature Nebraska State Fire Marshal John Falgione. His presentation will be entitled "How Nebraska Fire/Building Codes are Adopted" and "Updates on Current Fire Related Issues Before the State Legislature."

If you are interested in attending this meeting or becoming a member of the SFPE Great Plains Chapter visit http://www.sfpegreatplains.org/.

John L. Bryan Receives Induction Plaque to the OSU Department of Fire Protection and Safety Technology "Hall of Heroes and Legends"

Dr. John L. Bryan, Professor Emeritus and former Chair of the University of Maryland Department of Fire Protection Engineering received an induction plaque to the Oklahoma State University (OSU) Department of Fire Protection and Safety Technology "Hall of Heroes and Legends."

The plaque was presented by James C. "Robbie" Roberston, former Maryland State Fire Marshal. Both Bryan and Roberston are alumni of the OSU program.

The award was given at the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE) Chesapeake Chapter's Annual Seminar that was held on Feb 8, 2011 in Calverton, Maryland.

Bryan served as Chair and Professor of the Department of Fire Protection Engineering from the establishment of the department in 1956 until his retirement from the University of Maryland in 1993.

Pictured above Left to Right: Former Maryland State Fire Marshal Roberston, Professor Emeritus John L. Bryan and Chesapeake Chapter President Moriel Kaplan.

SFPE Members Needed to Participate in Education Program Survey

If you are an SFPE member, please take a few minutes and click the link below to complete this electronic survey. This survey will help the SFPE Engineering Education Committee make some decisions on future continued education for our membership. We really appreciate your time and we look forward to solid results to help support our membership.

Thank you for your time and cooperation.

Sincerely,
Alan Moore, P.E., SET
Chair, SFPE Engineering Education Committee


http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/U2HP74FVEMQZ

Article on the Role of Sprinklers in Performance-Based Design

There is a great article on the role of in performance-based design in the current edition of Plumbing Engineer Magazine. The article was written by SFPE Past President and Fellow Sam Dannaway, P.E.

To see this article go to http://www.plumbingengineer.com/jan_11/fire.php.